Soft-tread horseshoe.



Nu. 637,9l3. Patented Nov. 28, I899.

W. E. WILLIAMS.

SOFT TREAD HORSESHOE.

(Application filed my 95, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Eran/22'.-

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

WILLIAM ERASTUS WILLIAMS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SOFT-'I'READ HORSESHOE.

sPEcmIcA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,913, dated November as, 1899.

Application filed May 25, 1898. Serial No. 681,658. (No model-) T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM ERASTUS WIL- LIAMS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, Oook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Soft-Tread Horseshoes, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an elastic-tread horseshoe that Will have a metal base-plate similar to or exactly like the present metal shoes in use and an elastic cushion fastened to the-base by metal clasps and the invention consists in the novel construction of the parts and devices and the novel combinations thereof, as is fully set forth in the V claims.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in Which-- Figure l is a plan of the shoe with the cushion on the left side removed. Figs. 2 and 3 show modifications of the fastenings. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are cross-sections of the several parts.

In the drawings, A designates the base-plate or metallic shoe, which is intended to be the same shoe now in use, having the notches a cut in the sides. To the base I fasten the elastic cushion O by the metal clasps or heavy pliable bars D. The cushion G is prepared in the form of the cross-section, (see Fig. 7,) with the ends (1 of the clasps projecting downward, and is fixed to the shoe or base A after the shoe or base A has been nailed to the animals foot. The ends d of the clasps D are bent or clenched to the base A by tools adapted to do the Work.

In Figs. 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 the metal clasps D are made independent of each other and may be slipped into the cavities in the cushion after the cushion is made; but in Figs. 2 and 4 the metal clasps D are made of one piece, the several clasp portions (1 being connected together by the sections 01 and in this construction the clasps will be molded into the rubber when it is made.

In Figs. 3 and 6 there are wires W extending through the body of the cushion, underneath the clasps, to give a more secure fastening to the rubber. The notches a in the base A are essential only to make a smooth appearance to the edge of the shoe, since the clasps may be made to embrace the regular shoe and lie outside of its lines and still secure the cushion to the shoe.

The cushions may be supplied to any shoe at any time, and it is not necessary to remove the shoe from the foot to apply the cushion. The cushions may be made narrow or with openings for admitting the nails, and then the cushions may be fixed to the shoe before it is nailed to the foot.

What I claim is- 1. The combination with an elastic cushion adapted to fit the lower face of a horseshoe, of heavy pliable bars each passing transversely through the body of the cushion approximately parallel to its plane and projecting upon each side forming short segments adapted to pass upward alongthe edges of the horseshoe and to be hammered slightly inward into engagement with the shoe.

2. In a soft-tread horseshoe, the combination with a metal base to be fixed to the hoof, of an elastic cushion resting upon the base, and metal clasps passing through the cushion approximately parallel to the base and having their projecting ends bent into engagement with the latter.

3. The combination with an ordinary horseshoe having in its inner and outer edges transverse notches enlarged above their lower limits, of a cushion resting against the lower face of the shoe, and metal clasps extending upward from said cushion and fitting in said notches, respectively.

4. An elastic-tread horseshoe having a metal base and an elastic cushion fixed thereto, metal clasps engaging the cushion and embracing the metal base, with a metal connection extending through the cushion from clasp to clasp, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination of a metal base, of an elastic cushion fixed thereto, metal clasps passing through the cushion and embracing the metal base from the outside and. having their ends clenched on the upper edge of the metal base, With Wires passing through the cushion under the clasp, substantially as shown and described.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 23d day of May, 1898.

WILLIAM ERASTUS WILLIAMS.

Witnesses E. O. SEMPLE, S. E. DARBY. 

